On the one hand, China Resources Yibao encountered a PH test strip, and on the other hand, Nongfu Spring was accused of being "not as good as tap water". The "two bottles of water" with growing grievances finally broke out in a full-scale "water battle" at the turn of this spring and summer. Recently, the war of words and words between the two sides is not enough, and the next battle will be in court.
Nongfu Spring is negative and frequent, blame Yibao
In the past month, Nongfu Spring has been exposed to mildew in bottled natural water, black unknown objects, brown floating objects, garbage siege in the water source, and different colors of the same batch of products. On April 10, another "industry insider" broke the news that Nongfu Spring’s standard is not as good as tap water.
This series of quality disturbances has raised questions about Nongfu Spring. On April 11, Nongfu Spring finally couldn’t help but jump out and issue a statement, directly accusing the series of reports against Nongfu Spring of being deliberately planned, hidden behind the scenes is the state-controlled drinking water company, China Resources Yibao. In fact, when the water source of Nongfu Spring was exposed to garbage siege, Nongfu Spring pointed out that "this matter was done by a competitor", but did not directly name the competitor at that time.
Observing the series ** publicity actions ** Yibao in recent times, it seems that there is "suspicion". After March 15 this year, China Resources Yibao once cooperated with a large portal website to launch the special topic ** "The Sadness ** Drinking Water in China", and published the same content advertisement in elevators and other channels. It listed all the water pollution incidents in China in the past 10 years, and then pointed out that "Do you still dare to drink the water transported by nature?" The target pointed to the well-known Nongfu ****** advertising slogan – "Nature’s Porter". The relevant website has now removed the topic. Since then, in the process ** Nongfu ****** being exposed to the pollution problem ** the water source ** the Danjiangkou, the figure ** China Resources Yibao has also emerged. On April 9, Yibao held a press conference in *******, the main content ** which was the responsibility ** drinking water enterprises to protect water sources and the need for water sources to meet drinking water standards.
In its statement, Nongfu Spring also listed "criminal evidence" of Yibao, as competitors in Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei and other places have hired people to distribute leaflets attacking Nongfu Spring to retail stores and consumers door-to-door.
More interestingly, there was a speculation circulating in the industry that Nongfu Spring’s recent troubles were similar to the way it had attacked its competitors in the past. Coincidentally, one of Nongfu Spring’s executives had moved to China Resources Yibao…
However, Li Kai, the marketing director of China Resources Yibao, told reporters that he denied all kinds of speculation from the outside world, saying that the company would not do anything that violates fair competition.
Yibao retorted, and a scolding war broke out
Nongfu Spring has set off the climax of this round of war of words since the 11th, and released 17 long Weibo in a row in just 6 days from the 11th to the 16th.
Moreover, Nongfu Spring is not satisfied with the theory of "naming", but also poses a posture of death and destruction. The official Weibo of Nongfu Spring has publicly recruited no less than 5,000 people, "to go to Bunongfu Spring and China Resources Yibao, which uses tap water as its water source, to compare the quality of all water sources, factories and products."
Citizen Mr. Liu told reporters that he had forwarded the above-mentioned Weibo and had received a private message invitation from the official Weibo of Nongfu Spring on the 16th.
This move made China Resources Yibao furious. At 1 noon on April 12, the official Weibo of China Resources Yibao posted a message: "People are not sages, who can be wrong! If you can change it, you can’t be good. ‘This is the case in life, and even more so in business! Advise a certain enterprise to be responsible to consumers and have the courage to take responsibility. Instead of the disaster moving eastward and grabbing the disaster on others!" Weibo. Although this Weibo did not specify the target, it was unanimously regarded by the outside world as a call to Nongfu Spring.
In fact, China Resources Yibao has been holding back its breath for a long time. On March 22 this year, "International Water Day", Nongfu Spring was witnessed to do a demonstration of the pH value of bottled water at several major subway entrances in Guangzhou, and the bottled water for consumers to compare was Yibao. In the consumer sourcing activity held by Nongfu Spring every year, Yibao was also present at the pH value test site of different brands to be demonstrated by the example sign.
"Yibao has always been annoyed by the practice of testing Nongfu Spring Water, and it is not impossible to fight back for this matter," a person close to Yibao told reporters. Regarding the recent statement of Nongfu Spring, the relevant person in charge of China Resources Yibao said that this is the usual method of Nongfu Spring. Once there is negative news, it depends on competitors, and before Wahaha and Master Kang. However, the person did not respond positively to Nongfu Spring’s suggestion that consumers were invited to visit the Yibao factory.
After being ridiculed by the official Weibo of China Resources Yibao, the official Weibo of Nongfu Spring quickly responded: "As a state-owned holding enterprise and a listed company, if China Resources Yibao dares to do it, it must dare to admit it, and maintain the moral bottom line of the enterprise in the hearts of the people. Don’t have the courage to do it, but don’t have the courage to admit it." And used a long Weibo to post a batch of online screenshots, leaflets and other pictures to prove that the series of incidents encountered by the company were carried out by China Resources Yibao.
Since then, the public war between the two major bottled water giants in China has intensified.
Yibao sued Nongfu Spring for reputation infringement
On April 13, China Resources Yibao released an open letter to all China Resources Yibao people, in which it stated that for the deliberate attacks of certain companies, the company will retaliate or use legal weapons to protect itself when appropriate, and also ask employees not to go into muddy waters.
On the same day, the media reporters received a "100,000 whys of Nongfu Spring" from the marketing director of Yibao: It is said that Qiandao Lake is the tap water source of Chun’an County, Danjiangkou is the tap water source of Danjiangkou citizens, and Wanlv Lake is the power source of Guangdong Xinfengjiang Hydropower Station. What kind of water source is Nongfu Spring? The water sources of Nongfu Spring are deep lake water, deep reservoir water, self-swimming spring, mountain spring water, groundwater… No matter what kind of water, it implements the local standard of natural water in Zhejiang Province. May I ask why? Yibao implements the national unified standard no matter where it is produced. May I ask Nongfu Spring, how can you feel?!
In this regard, Nongfu Spring said it was "ridiculous", and the quality of Nongfu Spring was much higher than national standards, industry standards and local standards.
Facts have proved that China Resources Yibao did what it said. On the afternoon of the 16th, China Resources Yibao confirmed in a notice to reporters that the company had filed a lawsuit against Nongfu Spring with the People’s Court of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, which was officially accepted by the court on April 15, 2013.
The report said that recently, through its official Weibo, Nongfu Spring has claimed that the relevant reports of its own product quality problems recently disclosed by the media are deliberately planned by China Resources Yibao, and that China Resources Yibao uses the public’s panic about food safety and environmental pollution as a marketing tool.
"The above false statements have not only been widely reposted through social media, but have also been continuously reported by major mainstream media and portal websites across the country, causing serious damage to China Resources Yibao’s reputation, business reputation and commodity reputation." Yibao said that according to the provisions of the civil law, it believes that Nongfu Spring’s behavior has constituted an infringement of China Resources Yibao’s reputation rights and should bear the legal liability for infringement according to law.
The notice said that it believes in the public and the law will give Yibao a "just result", adding that any company’s actions to infringe on the reputation of competitors will not be successful, and it is not allowed by law. The notice reiterated that the company has firmly opposed, is and will not use illegal means to participate in market competition.
As of press time, Nongfu Spring’s spokesperson, Mr. Wu, had not responded to the company’s lawsuit against China Resources Yibao, or even did not answer the phone. The official Weibo of Nongfu Spring, which has issued frequent statements to the public in recent days, also said nothing about this.
Nongfu Spring pinched his peers and pinched the media
The reporter noticed that since China Resources Yibao issued an open letter to take up legal weapons, the focus ** public opinion on Nongfu ****** has begun to shift. Nongfu ******’s subsequent statements did not name names and China Resources Yibao, but focused on clarifying water quality standards. Instead, they were pinned on the ******* Times.
The **ficial Weibo ** Nongfu ****** has published several water quality monitoring reports, and the ******* Times, which has repeatedly "named" and questioned its water safety, even released a harsh message on Weibo on the 15th: "You can’t run away, and don’t even think about running."
In response, "******* Times **ficial Weibo" posted a response on the morning ** the 16th, "In front ** the standard, you can’t run away, and don’t even think about running away." Since the dispute over product standards appeared in the newspapers, Nongfu ****** first accused competitors ** smearing, and then cursed the media for ignorance, but refused to give a tenable reason on the standard issue. Instead, he avoided the reality and repeatedly emphasized that "product quality" is higher than the national standard.
Subsequently, the **ficial Weibo ** Nongfu ****** issued a "four-fold" ******* Times "Weibo, and posted a" Fourth Statement ** Nongfu ****** "signed on April 16 in the form ** a long Weibo. The content said:" Nongfu ****** products are comprehensively better than GB5749-2006 national tap water standards, ** which 21 indicators are 12-1000 times better than the national standard. Nongfu ****** compared with a full set ** 106 test indicators and 31 internal control indicators, a total ** 137 test reports were fully released. We hope that after the ******* Times sees the test report, should it feel, is your journalistic moral conscience still there? " Nongfu ****** insists that the quality ** the product is higher than any existing drinking water standards in the country, and it is also better than the current tap water standards. The arsenic and cadmium levels in the product are below the detection limit, and the levels are too low to be detected. Mold and yeast are also not detected.
The Beijing Times V17 published two blogs in a row: one is "to be more serious about water standards and pay attention to the right to health"; the other is "I don’t know why Nongfu Spring doesn’t cooperate with normal interviews?!" The Beijing Times pressed Nongfu Spring: Why did companies abandon higher national standards with universal significance and choose lower local standards?
At the same time, it was disclosed that the reporter contacted Wu Chaochao, a staff member of the Media Department of Nongfu Spring, and sent an interview outline as required. After that, he repeatedly dialed his phone, but the other party did not answer and did not receive any response.
Our reporter found that since April 16, Wu Chaochao, who is responsible for media communication, has not answered the reporters’ calls.
Southern Daily reporters, Zhou Zhao and Zhao Binghui
Reporter observation
Don’t pretend to be an ostrich in case of trouble in Nongfu Spring
Pretending to be an ostrich and burying your head in the sand can only deceive yourself. However, it is impossible for you not to look up, open your eyes, or face the objective world for the rest of your life. The problem has to be solved. When everyone pays attention to you, they all prick up their ears and wait to hear your explanation. You don’t want a good opportunity to clarify. When you wait for your spirit to practice your lines and plan to give a speech, I am afraid that there will be no interested audience.
Nongfu Spring released five test data on total arsenic, cadmium, selenium, nitrate and bromate in bottled water produced by multiple factories on the 14th. However, from the response, Nongfu Spring only said in general that "third-party testing agencies provide testing data." As for who the "third party" is, Nongfu Spring has not made it public. According to media reports, Nongfu Spring has commissioned the Hangzhou Quality and Technical Supervision and Testing Institute to test its products, but the test data is significantly different from the data released by Nongfu Spring on the 14th. Such an important test, but not telling which agency tested it, will inevitably weaken the persuasiveness of its data. You sell drinking water, not train tickets, and you can’t say "believe it or not, I believe it" to consumers across the country and send people away.
A responsible enterprise should strictly implement national, local, and relevant industry standards, even the most stringent one, and at the same time mark the product packaging as required. Since Nongfu Spring’s products are of high quality, leaving behind the national standard eight streets, why not mark the national standard on the product packaging generously? There is no need to choose a place with the lowest requirements and post the standard everywhere to attract people’s dislike.
Enterprises can’t just talk about being responsible to consumers. In action, they must first take consumers seriously and answer every question of "God" seriously and sincerely.
Zhou Zhao
(Source: Southern Daily)